Neo Noir B&W – Using Hardlight Blending Mode

This week I had to come up with a Sin City style look for a music video that will be shot in the next couple of weeks so I thought it would be great to share my method with you guys.

I also set myself the challenge of trying to stay away from the curves. I love curves and build most of my looks there so this was like grading with one arm behind my back!

The great thing about getting out of your comfort zone is you stumble upon brand new looks and tones that you never would have achieved normally

Why Hardlight?

I wish I could come up with a great story behind what gave me the inspiration behind using a hardlight blending mode but it comes down to a very simple result.

I tried them all!

Hardlight gave me a result that worked to my eyes so I rolled with it. It is very close to an overlay but gave me slightly different results that felt like I could dodge and burn in a nice natural way.